North America Defence News

US-UK; 'Last mile' troop supports robotics trials

The UK and the US in a joint program will conduct a series of trials of robotics and autonomous systems beginning October next year for the final stage of transportation of supplies to troops in challenging environments.

The final transportation stage often dubbed ‘the last mile’, can be particularly lengthy and dangerous for those involved – and it is in situations like this that both countries feel robotics can make the process more efficient in terms of cost, time and risk.

The trials will be carried out with an autonomous truck convoy demonstration kicking things off at the US Army Warfighting Assessment trials.

Alongside trials, calls to industry and academia will be made to identify further test technologies, with work set to culminate in a final trial event in October 2019, where a wide range of selected technologies will be brought together in one, integrated system.